Locking means for bascule-bridges.



A. H. sCHERzBm LOCKING MEANS FOB. BASGULE BRIDGES.

` ArrLloA'roN HLBD Nov. ze, 1909. 968,987.

Patented Aug', 30,

IJBAHBETS-SHEET 1 QW* @I A vH. SGHBRZBR. LOCKING MEANS POR BASGULB BRIDGES.

' APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26, 1909. 968,987.

Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Of- I A H SGHBRZER LOCKING MEANS POB BASGULB BRIDGES.

V APPLIGATIONVFILBD NOV. 26, 1909.

Patented Aug. 3Q, 1910.

.4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

A. H. SGHERZER. LOCKING MEANS Pon BASGULE BRIDGES.

APPLIUATIOH FILED NOV. 26, 1909.

- Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

y ,eff/j? @62% UNITED .STATES A ALBERT H. SCHERZER,

PATENT oFFIcE..

oF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Allg. 30, 1910. original application files July 3o, i907, seriaino. 386,254. Divided ami this appnca'tiba ined November 26, 1909. Serial N o. 529,844. Y

.To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALBERT'H; SCHRZER, a citizen of the, United States, of the cit of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and Vuseful improvements in Locking -Means -ffor -Basculc-Bridges; and I doA hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,A and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference maivked thereon, which form vapart of this specification. Y

ThisA invention relates to improvements in bascule or lift bridges of that kind wherein the bridge is opened and closed by the swinging movement of a movable span or leaf in a vertical plane and refers more specifically to anfimproved means for locking a singleleaf span in closed position.

My improvements are shown in .the accompanying drawings as applied to that type of bascule bridge known in the art as a rolling lift bridge 0r one in which, the Swinging span is provided with rolling seg. ments resting on stationary tracks or Vsupu ports, but my improvement may be applied also to other .types of bascule bridges.

` The invention consists in the matters hercinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings: 'Figure l is a side elevation of the bascule bridge pro` vided with a locking device embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal, vertical section on an enlarged scale of the' bridge span and parts, of the bridge approaches, adjacent to Aboth ends thereof, the central portion of the bridge span being broken away. Fig. 8 is a longitudinal, detail section taken on line. 3-3 of Fig. 5.I Fig. 4 is a transverse'section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a top plan View of one side of the track sup orting floor of x the br'idge leaf and part-s0 theJ stationary tracks on the bridge approaches at both ends ofthe leaf. Fig. 6 is a partial cross-section taken -a detail sectional view taken upon the line 8-8 of Fig. 5. Fig. 9 is 'a diagrammatic plan. View of -the bridge leaf :and its apoperating parts of the locking device. Fig.

y -10 is. -anenlai'ged detail view illustrating the separable connection between the parts of lthe locking device and operating rods which are mounted on the movable span and on thestationary struct-ure. Fig. 11 is a section upon line 11-11 of Fig. 10.

As shown in the drawings, A designates, as a whole, the single span or` leaf of the `bridge, embracino'jlongitudinal side trusses having upperan -lower chords a, a1," and a fioorframe Blocated at, or below the level of the lower chords'of said trusses.

The bridge illustrated is a railway bridge and the door frame thereof embraces transverse beams B1 and longitudinal stringere railroad track.

-C designa-tes thebridge approach at the rear end of the bridge and D the track sup- `E which supports the frontend of thevleaf when the latter is' in its closed position.

F, F designate rol-ling segments located at the rear o r approach end of the leaf. Said segments are attached to or forniA parts I locatedin the planes of saidtrusses.

GLG designate horizontal Agirders which are supported on piers H, H1 and form part their upper faces track plates indicated.- as a wh`ole by G1, upon which the segments F, F rest and upon which they roll when the bridge is opened and closed.

the same is made as follows: L ldesignates a longitudinally sliding locking bar that is vfloor structure of the` `bridge and adapted to extend, when in its `outermost position slightly beyond the forward end of the block E1. with a socket I which is adapted to receive the outer end ofthe locking baiwhen the B2`upon which aresupported the ties of theport at the front or lifting end-ofthe bridge,`

which latter supportvmay comprise a fixedl or stationary bridge span. O'ne end of Said track support is shown as resting on a pier Referring now to'inechanism illustrated for locking the bridge in its closed posit-ion,

proach, illustrating the arrangement of the. ,l

. of the trusses of the leaf and, as shown, are i.

ofthe approach C. [Said girders support on Y,

' 'mounted in gnidesdn the fr'wardend of theV bridge leaf. 'L1 designates'. af-socket piece supported on and rising from the pier cap- Said socket piece is provided latter is thrust outwardly. The said locking bar is withdrawn from the socket piece, to permit the bridge to open, and is thrust outwardly to its locking position, through the medium of a lockin jrod, whi h extends lengthwise of the bri ge and thestationary bridge approach and is operated from a point in said approach. Said docking rod is carried partially on the movable leaf yand partially on the stationary aproach, vand it embraces three parts or mem ers M, M1, M1, the parts M1, M2 being carried on the leaf and the part M being mounted on the stationary approach. The part M1 of the operating rod is supported .and guided r`at its rear end in guides m, m n the span, and the forward end of the part M2, as shown in Figsjll and 6 is .connected through the medium of a horizontal, transverse rockshaft M3 and a system of levers with thev rear of thelocking bar. As shown in the drawings (Fig. 2),said forward end of the part M2 of the operating rod is connected withv a crankarm m1 on one end of a rockshaft M3, said rock-'shaft having bearing in brackets m2 depending from the rail ties.A

The other end of'saidrock-shaft carries a crank arm m3 which is connected by a link N with one arm of a bell-crankleverN1 pivoted to a bracket or support n,-the other arm of said bell-crank lever N1 being loosely or pivotally connected with the rear endl of the sliding lock bar. The sliding locking' bar L is locked in its retracted position,

' when the bridge is swung upwardly, through the medium of a-grav1ty acting detent L2 (Figs. 2 and 7) which is pivoted by a inor stud Z1 toy a stationary part of the bri ge floor structure adjacent to. the forward en d of the said locking bar. The said locking detent is provided with a rearwardly facing "shoulder Z2 ywhich is adapted to engage the front pointed end of the locking bar, in the l manner indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 7, to

lock the same in its retracted'position at a time when the bridge is swung upwardly.

Said detent is provided to prevent the locking bar from being thrown outwardly by centrifugal action vin case the bridge leaf be swung downwardly with such force that this would be liable to occur. When the bridge is in its closed or lowermost position, the free or weighted end of the detent L2 rests upon the upper end of the socket piece L1,

I which latter lifts the detent'free from the ration and connection of the said members in the opening and closing ofthe span, As shown in the drawings,'such joint is made as follows :lhe rod member M1 on. the

whole by O, (Fig).

span is provided/on its end with a down wardlyopening hook 'Mtt which is adapted to engage horizontally arranged loop M5 formed on or carried by the adjacent end of in both directions from thememberrM, as f will be clear from an inspection of Fig. l0. The said loop M5 on the part M ofthe rod, has horizontally Asliding engagement with oppositely .disposed grooves m" formed in a guide block MG (FigsQl'O and l1) on the bridge approach. As a means for temporarily holding said rod member M in position for engagement therewith of the hooked end of the rod member M1 when the bridge.

is being closed, a' swinging lever or detent M7 is provided, which is pivot/ed between its ends on a pivot pin or rod ma extending between the side members of the guideblock MG, in such manner thatv its outer end is adapted to be swung upwardly into en- A gagement with the cross bar mon said loop M5. .The rear end m of said swinging detent is overweighted so. that vthe forward end thereof tends tovrise by gravity of said overweighted rearend. The withdrawal of the ylocking bar L is effected by a forward or inward movement of the member M of the operating rod. When the locking bar is in its locked position'the locking detent M7 is held by the overweight of its rear end'against the under face of the rod member M1, on the bridge leaf, .near the hook M4, as shown in Fig. 3. When said rod members M and M1 are moved to effect the release of the locking .bar L, the forwardy adapted to engage one of the supporting bearings m11 of the rod and thus lock the said 'member M from being shifted inwardly.

'Thus it will be. seen that loop M5 ofthe rod member M,wi1l beheld in osition to be engaged by the hooked end o the member 'M1 when the leaf is swung to its closedA position.'A Before the bridge leaf is fully iclosed the hook .M4 engages the forward end of thewdetent M7 and releases it from the loop M5 whereupon the operating rod as a whole maybe operated to thrust the locking bar-L into its socket.

-In vthe present construction the' members M1 and 'M2 of the operating rod which are .mounted on the bridge leaf, are connected by a compensating .device, designate asa vThe function of' said compensating'device is to transmit froml one to the other the stress due to the weight of the two rod sections M? and M2, in s uch' manner that the weights of the two sectionsv `counteract or neutralize each other and endwise displacement of said rod', when the leaf is` open, is prevented; The saidcompensating device O embraces a bell-crank lever O1 to which therod member M2is pivoted,l

' a`like bell-crank lever O2 to which the rod such point that the rod members Ml and M2` will be of substantially equal weight. It

will be observed, by referenceto Fig. 5,

that when the span is open or in Aits nearly upright position .the downward thrust of .the rod-member M2 acts through the levers O1 and O2ini a manner tending to lift the member- M1, thus preventing the weight of the rod, as a whole, from tending to thi'ow the lockingbar L into its locking position. j

It isvto be understood that in the accom-4 panying drawings I have illustrated one practical embodiment of my'invention, but

y inasmuch as the details of construction illusv tratedmay" be variously modified without Adeparture from the essential features of the y invention, I do not wish to be limited to the specific details of construction shown and described, except so far asthe same are claimed in the appended claims as constituting parts of my invention.

I claim as my invention l l. In a bascule bridge, the combination with a swinging bridge leaf, of a locking device for the front end ofthe leaf, and

an endwise movable operating rod for said' locking device, comprising two members one of which 4is mounted on the moving leaf and the other on'the bridgeapproach and a separable .connection for joining the meetends of said members of said operating rod, adapted for automatic connection with -and disconnection from each other when \the leaf is opened and'closed.

2. In a bascule bridge, the combination with a swinging leaf, of a locking device for the front end of the'leaf, an .endwise movable operating rod for said locking device, consisting of two members, one of which is carried on the leaf and the otheryon the bridge approach, and a separable connection for joining the said members, comprising a vhook on one of said members and a horizontally arranged loop on the other member. 3. In .a bascule bridge, the combination with a swinging leaf, o an-endwise sliding lockingbaron the front end of theileaf, a socket .-piece onl thebridge approach ada ted vto receive the locking bar, and a m'ova le detent mounted onithe leaf and adapted to engage the locking bar to hold the latter in its retracted position duringfthe swinging movement of the leaf.

4. In a bascule bridge, vthe combination.

with a swinging' eaf,of an 'endwise Sliding i locking bar on the frontend of the leaf, a.

socket'piece on the bridge approach adapted to receive the locking bar', and a gravity acting pivoted detent mounted on the span and adapted to engage the locking bar' to hold the` latter in its retracted position during the swinging movement of lthe leaf, said 'detent sov Y extending beyond the -outer end of the lock- .A ing bar when the latter is retracted land being adapted for contact with the-saidsocket `5. In- Aa bascule`bridge, the combination with-a swingingleaf, of a locking device on the frontend ofthe leaf, an endwise Inovable operating rod for said locki'ngdevicevv i' consisting of two members, one of Which is mounted on the leaf and the -other on the bridge approach, ay separable joint forgunit- 'ing said members and -a"locking1detent adapted to engage the rod member which is mounted on the approach, to hold the said member fromI endwisemovement during the swinging movementr of the leaf.

6. In a bascule brid e, the combination with a swingingleaf, o a lockingdevice on 'iool -members, one of which is carried on the leaf 'and-the othermounted on the bridge apthe front end of theleaf, an `operating rod for the said locking device consisting 'of two proa'ch, a'joint for detachably connecting the two members ofthe rod, embracing'a horizontal loop on the approach member anda hook on the span member vprovided with a downwardlydirected end and a detent for holding the -approach member ofA the rod from endwise movement,.c ons isting. of a pivoted detent-lever adapted to enter said loop and to be disengaged from. the

. loop by 'contact of the hook therewith in the closing of the leaf.

7. In a bascule brid0fe,ithe' combination with a swinging leaf, of a locking device on the front end of the leaf, an operating rod for said locking device extending longitudinally of the leaf and movable endwise -thereon, said operating-rod in its part upon the leaf consisting of`-two sections, and a 4compensating device joining said sections so constructed as to transmit endwisel motionV from one section to the other to effect the counterbalancing of one section by the other. 12.5

8. In a bascule bridge, the combination with a swinging leaf, of a'locking device for the leaf, and an operating rod for said locking device which extends longitudinally of the leaf, said locking device in its part which is mounted on the leaf comprising i'io joinnillxlg1 said sections ensistingnof two bello'veinber A. 13.1909.-

cra f evers connefcte severa y with the said sectionsand a link connecting said bell-v ALBERT H SCHERZER' 5 crank levers. Witnesses:l v- E In testimony, that IA claim the foregoing T1 AuREDg- ,A as my invention I aix my signature in the Y Y, CLARENCE E. l\hv:rH1l.HoPia.r 1

two sections, and a compensating Adevice gresenee of two'witnesses, this 15th Hay of 

